It was in the village of Calbost, South Lochs, in the island of Lewis, that Donald Nicolson first saw the light of day, as did his parents before him. His father, Murdo Nicolson, served in the Royal Navy and, as a result of enemy action, was lost at sea in 1916. He left eight of a family, of whom the youngest was then not yet born. Donald, born in 1911, was the third youngest and would have been five years of age when his father's death occurred. Bringing up a large family could not have been easy for the war-widow but, whatever the hardship, it was accomplished. Two sons died while still young; the remaining four sons and two daughters all reached maturity. When Donald died on 11 February 2001, he was the last member of that large family to go the way of all the earth. Both his father and his mother were communicant members in the Free Church.

At an early age Donald found employment as a fisherman and followed the fishing not only in Lewis but also on the east coast of Scotland, as was customary at that time. (It might be said that his interest in fishing continued throughout his life and even in his late eighties, when he had the opportunity, he was wont to go out lithe-fishing in his little dinghy which was moored at Calbost.) It would appear that while still a teenager he began to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and, although nothing is known of his spiritual experience at the time, it would appear that he came to a saving knowledge of Christ early in life and made a public profession while still in his early twenties. Around 1938 he became a lay-preacher or missionary and as such served in many places. As the Free Church missionary in Applecross he made the acquaintance of the well-known and highly-respected John MacAulay who, at that time, was our Church's missionary in that area. He also spent some time in Dundonnell, Tiree, and Grimsay in North Uist, but eventually, in 1947, he applied to be received as a student and, having been accepted, he began his studies for the ministry in the Free Church College, Edinburgh. There he apparently proved himself to be an excellent student and it appears that he had a special aptitude for Hebrew studies, being awarded the prize in that subject. After completing his studies and after licensing, he was appointed an assistant to the Rev Kenneth A MacRae in the Stornoway congregation.

It is somewhat perplexing to us that Mr MacRae continued to support the Free Church's constitutional position vis-à-vis that of the Free Presbyterian Church while, at the same time, he was well aware of the decline in the Free Church. More than his little book on that subject, which he entitled The Resurgence of Arminianism, proves that to have been the case. Donald Nicolson was also taking stock of the situation, and after Mr MacRae's death his thoughts were directed towards joining the Free Presbyterian Church, being fully persuaded - as he was to tell the Outer Isles Presbytery on his admission - that "it was the Church of the Disruption and of the Reformation, for which our forefathers suffered and died". He, therefore, decided to cast in his lot with our Church and that was a decision which he never regretted taking. Shortly before his death, and while taking note of what was happening in the Free Church in these more recent times, he expressed in the writer's hearing his thankfulness to the Most High that he had been led to sever his connection with it so many years before.

His Petition to be admitted to the standing of a Probationer in the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland was considered by the Outer Isles Presbytery on 18 April 1967, and it was unanimously agreed that the Presbytery would recommend to the Synod that the crave of the Petition be granted. The following May, this was done. His ordination took place on 2 August, when he was admitted to the pastoral charge of the North Tolsta congregation. Sadly, difficulties soon arose which, it has to be said, led to such disharmony in the congregation that the minister was eventually constrained to resign from the charge. His resignation was accepted by the Presbytery on 11 March 1969. It may be said in this connection that time proved to be a great healer, for Mr Nicolson in his latter years often supplied the North Tolsta pulpit and did so with much acceptance as far as the people there were concerned.

On 22 December 1970, Mr Nicolson was inducted to the Raasay congregation and there he was to labour for the next seven and a half years. He conscientiously attended to his pastoral duties, and it would appear that his labours on that island were not without fruit. In 1978 he moved to the mainland of Skye, having accepted a call from the Glendale congregation. His induction took place on April 25 and there he was to labour until he decided to retire from the active ministry and return to his native island at the end of April 1992. He said to a friend that the happiest period of his ministry was that spent in Glendale. In 1979 he visited Canada as a Church deputy and in 1981 he was appointed Moderator of Synod, performing the duties of that office in a very competent manner. After retirement, he at first lived in Calbost, but within a short space of time he bought a house in Stornoway and, although he still visited his old home from time to time, this became his settled abode. Over the next nine years, Mr Nicolson willingly supplied pulpits throughout the bounds of the Outer Isles Presbytery and further afield, travelling to places as far distant as Edinburgh and London.

Even in old age, Donald Nicolson remained physically strong and his health remained good. That was a blessing which he had enjoyed throughout his lifetime. For around 50 years he had never been confined to his house on a Sabbath and prevented from preaching through ill health, and he had never been a hospital patient until he sustained a heart attack in his eighty-sixth year and was admitted to the Western Isles Hospital. His recovery was remarkable and he was soon back preaching as formerly. Three years later he underwent an operation to repair a hernia and again he recovered sufficiently to resume, as he himself much desired, his preaching duties. His desire was to die in harness and that last desire also appears to have been granted him. He passed away while driving his car home from Uig to Stornoway on the Sabbath evening of 11 February 2001. The vehicle came to rest some way down a slight embankment without sustaining much damage. Those first on the scene found his inanimate body in the driving seat and without any sign of having sustained any outward injury.

Those who knew Donald Nicolson best will without hesitation give him the place of a godly man but one of such strong convictions that sometimes it was felt better not to prolong discussion of a subject with him if one were inclined to be of a different view. His heavy accent and the ponderous manner in which he, at times, delivered his pulpit discourses obscured, to a large extent, the fact that he possessed an acute theological mind. He was one who came to a settled view on controverted subjects as a result of expending much thought on them himself. He read and was familiar with the writings of Owen and other Puritans but he did not accept altogether uncritically what he read on certain subjects even if what was written flowed from such learned and eminent pens. Candour compels us also to mention that, in connection with the events which led up to the Synod meeting of 1989 and with which it will always be associated, he seemed for a time to be influenced by the company which he kept, most of whom departed in the APC secession. He, however, was not left to join them, and it was ever afterwards a cause of much thankfulness for him that he was preserved from doing so.

Mr Nicolson never married. In private, he was a genial, affable man, one who was able to relate to children in a remarkable way, as parents in his neighbourhood would readily testify. At the same time, according to the observation of the writer, he commanded the respect and affection of young people with whom he came into contact. He lived on his own, quite determined to remain independent, not wishing to become a burden to anyone. Right to the end, he would not avail himself of the provision of a "home help" although this was freely on offer and even in times of ill-health, apart from the help which he permitted his sister-in-law to give him, he preferred to fend for himself. He often said that he was not afraid of death. For him we believe that "sudden death was sudden glory" and that he is now in the company of "the spirits of just men made perfect". His mortal remains were laid to rest in the Gravir cemetery until the resurrection - until the saying that is written shall be brought to pass, "Death is swallowed up in victory".